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Police collect unused and unwanted drugs over the weekend
ANNE EICKSTADT PHOTO Belvidere Republican
Volunteers in Police Service help the BPD by separating the medications into bags for disposal. The containers are placed in a separate container for destruction.
On April 22, the Belvidere Police Department held a drug takeback event at the Belvidere Township building, 8200 Fairgrounds Road.
“This program has always been run by the Boone County Soil & Water Conservation District in conjunction with Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful,” said Officer Tim Blankenship. “They partner with us and the VIPS (Volunteers in Police Service). In the past, they have paid to have the medication taken away. Now the Belvidere Police Department has a way to do that through the DEA Diversion program.”
Deputy Chief Matt Wallace said, “We have permanent medication drop box at the Public Safety Building, 615 N. Main St., that is available 24/7. We will have another medicine collection event in the fall.”
Cars, trucks and SUVs stopped to turn over unused, old, unwanted medications, cleaning them out of medicine cabinets, and keeping them out of the hands of unauthorized users.
“Each year the Soil and Water Conservation District seeks sponsorships from various local agencies,” said Jennifer Becker, administrative coordinator, Boone County Soil and Water Conservation District. “Some agencies that have sponsored this collection currently and/or in the past include: the Northern Regional Groundwater Protection and Planning Committee, Spring Township, Caledonia Town-ship, Manchester Township, and Pomona Grange. Sponsorships have gone towards advertisements, proper disposal of all medications collected via incineration, and volunteer supplies such as gloves and facemasks.
Over the past nine years, a positive trend has been observed with an increase in pounds of medications received; although, there have been a couple instances, such as this year, where pounds have decreased. In essence, this has been due to a couple years where large drop offs have occurred.
Over-the-counter medications and prescriptions can pollute our waters and be harmful to humans, fish, and other wild-life when disposed of improperly.
Please do not flush medications down the toilet or place in the trash.
Unused, unwanted, and expired medicines of all kinds, including controlled sub-stances must be properly disposed of in an environmentally safe manner so as to pre-vent leaching into the ground-water.
Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful organizes an annual Medication Collection: www.knib.org.
Most pharmacy departments sell a mail-back disposal container for needles/sharps.
According to the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.2 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study shows that a majority of misused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.
The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that nearly 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2017. More than half of those deaths involved opioids, including prescription drugs and heroin.
The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.
Of all the major drugs of abuse, only marijuana is available as a natural, harvested product. The others, whether they are illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, or legitimately produced pharmaceuticals, must be manufactured. Many problems associated with drug abuse are the result of legitimately made controlled sub-stances being diverted from their lawful purpose into illicit drug traffic. The mission of DEA’s Diversion Control Di-vision is to prevent, detect, and investigate the diversion of controlled pharmaceuticals and listed chemicals from legitimate sources while ensuring an adequate and uninterrupted supply for legitimate medical, commercial, and scientific needs.
Many of the narcotics, depressants, and stimulants manufactured for legitimate medical use are subject to abuse and have, therefore, been brought under legal control. Under federal law, all businesses that import, export, manufacture, or distribute controlled substances; all health professionals licensed to dispense, administer, or prescribe them; and all pharmacies authorized to fill prescriptions must register with the DEA.
More information can be found online at www.getsmarta-boutdrugs.gov.
